My Shadow
by Death Itself 101
Summary: Vanessa was a shy girl, only noticed because of her 'stupidity'. Soon, new neighbors come along. But she would never believe what happens after that. Not until she meets her shadow, someone who will support her, forever and always.
1. Chapter 1

p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hi. I am just a shadow of who I used to be. First of all, who /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"was /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I? Well, that may be a mystery to some, but not to whoever is reading this… Soon that is. Now let me show you my past…/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It was a bright summer day. I, of course, decided to be in my room. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Go outside? Ha! Not after what happened last week…/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"*Flashback*/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I was waiting for the ice-cream truck to come, just like I do every single day at 5. But I feel like today something was going to happen… I just hoped for the best. But life just wouldn't let me be. I stayed still, alert and ready. I just had to be. Something always happens- Nichole abuses me, I get made fun of by Adam, etc, etc. Who are they? Well, I ask that question every day to myself./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Nicole is my mom… But she doesn't seem like a mom. Ever since my dad left her, she has been depressed. She even got fired from her job that supported her and me. One day, though, she had pent up anger to get rid of. Guess what she used? No, not a stress ball. No, not by punching a pillow. She used me. No, she did not speak about it. No, she did not go to a family counselor with me. She abused me. I was young when it started. I even have scars and bruises to prove it! Adam didn't help either./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Adam was my school bully. I am scared-no...terrified!-of him. It all started in 4th grade, when I embarrassed him. It's hard to believe we were actually the best of friends. A new girl came in and I became friends with her. Her name was Emily. I told her a baby secret of Adam and she told the WHOLE school. I'm not kidding; the /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"WHOLE /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"school! I really didn't mean it… And it didn't help with the fact that Adam was planning to ask her out. Now, after 6 years, he managed to ask her out without dying of embarrassment. Now they rule the school, like they are the King and Queen. Now that they are together, Emily is now mean to me./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Everyday my school life and home life is like a living nightmare. Between Nichole abusing me like I am dirt, and Adam and Emily embarrassing me and hurting me...My health is degrading quickly. I get bruises and… and I cut... But I have to hide them all the time. Also, now that I entered into robotics and all that nerdy tech stuff, life is hard. But I have surprisingly not broken yet. I mean, I have not cried out in pain, even though every slap to the face, every kick to the stomach, every torturing laugh- those hurt. I have grown to think that pain is all that there is in life. I am not immune, true, but I don't feel as much pain as a regular human being./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now that school is over, I thought I only had Nichole to endure. But boy was I wrong! I had a lot of trouble. Adam and his gang would teepee my house, egg it, and do a lot more just to get me in trouble. First comes the abuse, and then come the punishment of humiliation. What am I humiliated about? Well let's see… After the abuse, Nichole would make me clean up the mess. So that means I have to go outside. Crap. I hate going outside. That means Emily or Adam will be there… Ugh, life is so harsh!/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Well, that is a little background story on my horrible life. Anyways, as I was saying, I waited for the ice-cream t come to me. As I waited, I played with the money in my pocket. Some it was coins, some of it was actual dollars, so the coins jangled around in there. I finally heard the childish music of the ice cream truck. I internally sighed, relishing the days my life was easy…ish. I could go outside and not be afraid. By the time I snapped out of my thoughts, the ice cream has arrived. But when I looked up to see the man, I was shocked by terror./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It. Was. Chase. Chase was one of Adam's 'friends' or hounds like I like to call them. The 'hound' always follows Adam around, doing every command told to him. "Well lookie here… We got a shy little nerd, waiting for ice cream… Well, tell me what you want, sweetheart." Chase said. I looked at him, obviously confused at his sudden hospitality. I mean, I don't mind, but really… He was one of the people in Adam's group that beat me up the most, along with Jack, Nick, and Dan, though Dan is a bit new. "Uh... I-I would l-like some ch-chocolate ice cream… please…" I said really quietly. I am not a shy person, but with them, my confidence shrinks. He gave me a sly smile and nodded. Wait, he didn't ask me if I wanted small of medium, or large… Or I wanted a cup or cone… That made my suspicions rise higher./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When Chase came back, he held a chocolate ice cream. It had chocolate sprinkles and it was drizzled in chocolate syrup… in a small chocolate waffle cone. Yum! When I saw that, my guards went down, just for a second though, and I reached for it. Eh… Not a wise choice. I should have much more careful. I mean, he is one of Adam's goons… Why would he be nice to /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"me!/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now keep in mind, I decided to wear a new, crisp white shirt, because black colored clothing makes you hot in a summer day. Plus, it would be a nice change not to be called 'Emo!' or 'Goth!'. (A/N: Though no offense to goth/emo/ghetto people. You guys are cool!) So guess what he did? He-get ready for this- smushed my ice cream onto my new clean shirt. Suddenly, I heard camera flashes go off. I was having my picture taken. 'Okay, breathe in and out. In and out.' I said that over and over again, trying to calm my nerves. Finally, I couldn't take it. I ran back home, scared out my wits to see what they were going to do with the picture. I ran into my house, and thank god my mother was out, because I slammed the door shut. She would yell at me, making sure I get slapped into tomorrow. I ran upstairs vowing to never come back out, ever…/spanspan id="docs-internal-guid-94152ef0-7fff-461a-b1b1-0f23a23bcc09"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Or at least until school started again. *Sigh* I hope that this is going to be a long summer./span/p 


	2. Chapter 2

I stayed inside for a couple of days now… Until Nichole made me get food. Ugh, I should have known that she would be too lazy to get off of that fat butt she has. Once again she was drunk. But surprisingly she did not try to pummel me with her glass bottles. That was actually the best thing about today… Scratch that. Nobody tried to mentally abuse me today! Trust me, it may not be that big to you, but us victims to the bullies, they hurt us… In so many ways that are unexplained.

I muttered a few cuss words, but I kept going down the stairs and I asked Nicole for some money. "Hey Nichole can I have some money?" She staggered towards me, her face neutral, with a hint of *cough, cough retardation cough, cough* relaxation. I braced myself and waited for some kind of pain to come upon me. "Heeere. Getttt someth-th-th-thing good to eattt." Rolling my eyes, I waited until she sat back down in front of the TV. I swear if she thinks she can get somebody to love her because of her 'womanly charms' (which she doesn't have), she's gonna have to get off that lazy butt of hers, exercise and drop the drinks. Maybe then I can have a father, a mother... a family. Plus it'll be good for her health, not that I really care for her. Hey, she doesn't care for me, I don't care for her. Simple. Sorry, I get sidetracked really easily...

So, I put on black leggings, with a grey hoodie saying 'I'm ready!'. My hair, already in a braid, was left alone. I put on my trademark Vans and walked out the door with the wad of cash I had. I went through the backyard, not wanting to go through the humiliation I was put into last week. But of course, there is this invisible force not wanting to let me be for a little bit! Adam and his hounds were right there, loitering around my yard. Adam smirked, his greyish-blue eyes shining with evil. I tried to open the back door, but obviously! it had the auto-lock thing my mom decided to install when I was younger that decided to work just now. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Little dyslexic Vanessa going somewhere?" For some reason, I heard a voice in my head, like always, to fight back. I never did listen to it. But today, I just had this impulse, like something else was controlling me.

"Well. I was, but then I saw your ugly face. It kinda sours up the scenery, you know?" Oh my god... What did I just do! I was starting to sweat in the palm of my hand, but I did nothing to diminish this new found confidence. It's like a drug, making me watch what's happen as it does its 'magic'. Adam's face contorts into a look of anger, before going back to its unusual look of calmness. "Why, this is a little bit too cocky for my taste. Tone it down will ya?" I did something, which now that I think about it, say a lot.

I shook my head.

After two seconds, he is up in my face, his breath going ragged from anger. "What did you just say, ADHD?" I gulped, but I quickly regained myself and said "I won't let you and your hounds do whatever you want to me. I am also a human. So, Adam, please let me down, or so help me, I will gut you like a fish." Wow... I do NOT know where this new found confidence is from! Maybe I will take the voice in my head's advice from now on! It was funny though. Usually, a voice your head means you're insane, and they push you to do horrible and life-threatening things. I mean, my life could be out on a limb right now, but I love this new burst of confidence rush inside of me.

Adam's face turned so red, I swear I thought he was going to POP! his head. I was surprised steam wasn't coming out of his ears by now. "Well, Vanessa, I thought I was going to go easy on you. But you asked for it!" Pretending to sigh, he discreetly got ready to make me to pulp. His hounds looked at me like I was raw meat and Adam was their master, who was ready to give bark out orders. I faked a sigh, swelling with confidence. "Well...? What are you waiting for? Come at me bro!" I cannot BELIEVE that came out of my mouth! Well, by now, a decent sized crowd has begun to form. I swear, this happens, like every single week. Except now, it'll be a real show.


	3. Chapter 3

Adam's face turned all red and I smirked. I swear, I'm going to regret this later. But right now, I wanna have some fun! (A/N: Not that way, you pervs! XD) I ran up to him and got ready to punch him. He beat me to the punch though. My jaw felt like it was dislocated. I ran up to him, anger boiling in my veins. I mean, whenever he decided to beat me up, I usually just... let him do it. This time though, I kicked him where the sun doesn't shine, making him double over in pain, obviously. Then, I elbowed him in the neck, making sure to hit him in the most sensitive and painful place ever. I guess being his ex-best friend helps because now I know his weak spots. When he did get up, he looked like he was in shock. I smirked and said, "Aw~ Is wittle baby Adam all tired out? Come here!" I ran up to him. Now that he was dazed, I was able to punch him. Over and over again. It was pretty fun, showing him my pent up anger and pain. I made sure that he at least had a broken tooth, maybe a bruise here and there. I mean, after all the scars, bruises, pain that he has given me, this was nothing! I gave him an 'innocent' smile. I knocked him out with a technique I learned a few years ago. It'll keep him down for a couple of hours.

Suddenly I was knocked down to the ground. I spun around, only to see on of Adams' goon, Jack. I smiled 'sweetly' to him. He was always the slower ones so he was confused as to why I was smiling towards him. I smirked, and then jumped back up. He then wound his arm up to punch me. I was too fast for him though. I ran behind him and took his free arm, pulling it behind him. "Let's dance." I whispered into his ears. His breathing started to go ragged. I smiled creepily and started this part of the show.

I took his free arm, the one that was ready to punch me. I then made a quick movement that snapped his wrist. He fell to the ground, pain evident in his eyes. I then elbowed him in the back. By now, Jack was laying on the ground, trying to not cry like a baby. I left him there. I mean, he is embarrassed enough. I turned to the remaining gang. Only Chase and Nick. Dan was always a wuss, and being the new member of their 'group' he was scared. I mean, I just beat up his friend and leader! I was surprised that Nick was still was here. But Chase would always stay for a good fight no matter what the situation is. "Nick, why don't you run home to your mommy? Go hide under your bwanky and hug your teddy-weddy!" Nick blushed, but his anger got the best of him. He ran up to me getting ready to go all ninja on me. When I was younger, and Adam and I were still friends, Nick would go to karate classes with me. We would be karate partners and I would always beat him. So what makes him think he would win against me? …Whoa, major ego blow-up! But I got ready for a match.

Like always we bowed to each other. I guess old habits do stay. I waited for him to make his move, but I guess he learned his lesson and waited for me instead. I got tired of waiting, and when I finished analyzing his possible weak spots, I went into action. I advanced him, quickly. I thought he wouldn't see me coming, but he has gotten better over the years. He jumped away, smirking when he turned to face me. Oh, this means war.

(A/N: Since I don't really know karate, just use your imaginations. Sorry.)

When I finished up with Nick, I turned to Chase. He looked so calm, but his eyes gave it away. He was scared of me! I don't know why, but it felt real good. I eventually walked up to him and said, "I'm not surprised to see that you're still here, but I want to know why. All of your gang is either in pain or has ran away *cough cough Dan cough cough*. Now how about you make this easy for yourself and leave." He then had the nerve to smirk at me. "And miss out on all the fun? No way." I glared at him, making him a tad uncomfortable, but he did keep his ground. I decided to make this a special one. I walked around him, dragging my long fingernails against his clothes. "Don't you think it's a bit too hot to be wearing a sweater in this summer heat?" I asked, 'innocently' batting my eyelashes. I went He gulped, getting more and more uncomfortable by the second.

I then slid my hand down his chest and got close up to him. Then I smirked. "How about we wrap this show up? Let's go." Being so close and having him uncomfortable was an advantage. I was able to punch him and he couldn't even react to it. I punched him square in the jaw. He was thrown backwards, so I ran up to him and kicked him in the stomach. I set my foot on his chest and leaned forward. "So, Chasey, do you the taste of your own medicine?" I was kinda shocked that he was even conscious, because I hit him really hard. I heard a mumble. "Mmhmm..." I smirked. "Well, too bad. You didn't stop when I begged and pleaded for you to stop. I won't stop either." I stomped on his chest a few times and then kicked him a little on the side. Ok, not a little, I did hurt him. It may not be as much as he hurt me, but just enough, for now. I walked off, only to remember the unconscious bodies in my backyard. I sighed and dragged out a wagon. I gathered a few beer bottles and wrapped their fingers around the bottle. Then I dropped them off at their houses. Well, more like left them on their lawns for all to see.

Yeah, I did that.


End file.
